Card case construction



Sept. 16, 1958- w. J. ECKER CARD CASE CONSTRUCTION /N L/ENTOR. WILL JEc/(ER,

Filed Feb. 4, 1957 United States Patent CARD CASE CONSTRUCTION Will J.Ecker, St. Louis, Mo.

Application February 4, 1957, Serial No. 638,045 2 Claims. Ci. zit-esThe present invention relates to a novel and improved card caseconstruction including a foldable outer casing of leather or likematerial, a holder of tissue paper wherein visiting or business cardsare releasably contained, a manually operable clamp assembly rigid withthe casing for detachably securing said card holder in position, andfastener means for releasably maintaining the folded outer casing inclosed protective disposition about the elements therein enclosed.

The outer casing is comprised of a single piece of material creased toprovide a base segment, a top flap seg ment approximately coextensivewith said base section, and a closure flap segment adapted to overlieone end portion of the top flap segment. Conventional means, preferablyof the well known glove fastener type, are incorporated in theoverlapping flap segments to facilitate the opening and closingoperations thereof.

The holder for the cards, similar to the holders disclosed in UnitedStates Letters Patent No. 1,869,803 issued to me on August 12, 1932, andNo. 1,877,565 issued to me on September 13, 1932, includes a pluralityof tissue paper sheets adapted to retain the cards between successivesheets, and to preserve them from becoming soiled or otherwise renderedunattractive for presentation.

In accordance with the disclosures of the patents afore-- said, thetissue paper sheets would be so disposed relatively to the cards, thatin consequence of tearing the particular sheet immediately above thetopmost card in the holder, said card would be released forpresentation.

In these prior art conceptions, the casings for the card holders wereconsidered disposable subsequent to the removal of the final card from aholder, whereas the present invention contemplates a casing of durablematerial that incorporates means facilitating the removal of acard-depleted holder, to be followed by the insertion of a fresh cardholder.

Stated otherwise, it is an object of the present invention to provide afoldably formed outer casing of leather or similar durable materialadapted to repeatedly serve as an enclosure for any number of fresh cardholders successively positioned therein following the removal anddiscarding of previously depleted card holders.

It is another object of the present invention to incorporate in the saidcasing, novel means in the form of a clamp assembly for releasablyretaining said card holders until the final card therein has beenremoved.

The preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated on a sheet ofdrawings thataccompanies this specification. Features and advantages notspecifically mentioned hereinbefore will be apparent o'r pointed out inthe detailed description of' the invention to follow with reference tosaid drawings wherein: a Figure 1 is a top plan view of a closedflexible casing of leather or the like constructed in accordance withand embodying the concepts of the present invention; 7 Figure 2 is afragmentary bottom plan view thereof; Figure 3, is a View of the Figure1 casing in fully open 2,851,154 Patented Sept. 16, 1958 2 status,exhibiting the appearance of the clamp assembly and the cardholderof-the invention in top plan;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary top plan view of the intermediate portion ofFigure 3, illustrating the pivotally mounted member of the clampassembly disposed in vertical or non-clamping status;

Figure 5 is anenlarged longitudinal vertical section taken on theline5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a transverse vertical section taken on the line 6-6 ofFigure 5;

Figure 7 is'an enlarged longitudinal section taken on the line 7--7 ofFigure 4; v

Figure 8 is a similar view-taken on the line 8-8 of Figure 4; i

Figure 9 is afragmentary plan view of the pivotally mounted member ofthe clamp assembly, particularly 1 llustrative of the pintle formationon each end of said member;

Figure 10 is a fragmentary top plan view of the base member of the clampassembly, a wing portion thereof being shown partly insection, andparticularly illustrative of a pintle receiving opening therein; I

Figure 11 is a bottom plan view of a card holder in condition for properplacement in the clamp assembly; and t Figure 12 is a top plan view ofone of the tissue paper sheetsemployed in constructing the card holdershown in Figure 11.

In the illustrated card case construction of the present invention, thecasing thereof is generally designated 20, the clamp assembly isgenerally designated 22, and the card holder is generally designated 24.

The casing 20 comprises a single piece of flexible material such asleather or the like, fashioned as shown particularly in Figure 5, toprovide a base segment 26, a top flap segment 28 approximatelycoextensive with said base segment, and a closure flap segment 30adapted in the closed position of the casing to overlie what will fordescriptive purposes herein be termed the right end portion 32 of thetop flap segment. The material of the casing is preferably creasedduring the manufacturing process, so as to provide an arcuate connectingsegment 34 between the base and the top flap segments, and a similarsegment 36 between the base and the closure flap segments. Suitablemeans, preferably of the glove fastener type as shown, are incorporatedin the right end portion 32 of the top flap segment'and the closure flapsegment, for maintaining the casing in closed position.

The clamp assembly 22 includes a transversely disposed substantiallyrectangular base plate and a substantially L-shaped clamping member thatis pivotally supported thereby and associated therewith.

The plate is designated 318, and is rigidly secured to the upper surfaceof the casing base segment 26 by means of a pair of transversely spacedrivets 40. At its left end, the base plate 38 terminates in anupstanding flange 42 that merges at its ends into a pair of transverselyspaced vertically disposed wing segments 44 as shown.

Formed in the upper right end portion of each wing segment is a circularaperture 46, as seen to best advantage in Figures 7 and 10. Numerals 48designate a pair of transversely spaced hollow, knobs formed integrallyin the base plate 38 as best seen in Figures 5 and 6.

The clamping member is designated 50, and is of substantially L-shapedconfiguration in longitudinal section. It includes a relatively wide legsection 52 merging into a narrower leg section 54. The width of theclamping member 50 issuch as to have a close fit within the wingsegments 44 of the base plate, and intermediate its ends as bestseen inFigure 3, the wide leg section 52 of said clamping member has formedintegrally therewith a projecting formation 56,- hereinafter termed afingerpiece.

Projecting laterally from eachend of the member 50 at the mergence ofthe leg sections thereof, is a pintle 58 that extends into one of thecircular apertures 46 of said base plate wing segments,,44, asshould; beclear. from an inspection ofFiguresG, 7, and}. The terminal edge 60 ofthe clamping. plate, narrowv leg, section 54 has formed therein a pairof transversely spaced arcuate indentations 62. Theseqindentations arespaced corre spondingly with the knobs 48 of :the base plate, as shownparticularly in Figure 6, and preferably; are; formed'on radii slightlylarger than those of said knobs for a reason to appear. 1

The card holder 24 is comprisedofa-plurality of tissue paper sheetsthat, are: preferably; transparent, a stiffener sheet of thin cardboard,and-an adhesive sticker.

The tissue sheets. 64 are.identical-,'jand one of them is shown inFigure 12 as it would appear prior to incorporation in the holder 24-.Asdemonstrated, the sheet is of generally rectangular configurationg.the main body portion 66 thereof having alineof perforations 68:,formedtherein. The right hand end portion of the sheet will be termed its flapsegment 70, land as shown, is preferably contoured to have.asemicircular periphery that merges into a segment 72v connecting theflap 70 with; the main body portion 66 of the sheet as should beapparent. Numeral 74 designates aline ofperforations formed in the flapsegment in spaced-parallel relationship to the similar line 68 formed inthe main body 66 of the sheet.

The stiffener sheet of thin cardboard material is designated 76. It isof, rectangular configuration, the right hand marginal edge thereof, (asviewed in'the drawings), being indicated by thebroken lines 78,,thatappear in Figure 11. In Figure 5, thisedge isclearly indicated also. Theadhesive sticker referred toabove appears in Figures 5 and 11 where; itis identified; by the numeral 80. The business and visiting cards. 82-contemplated by the invention are of customary rectilinear'type, asshown. in Figure 3.

It will be remembered that the primaryobjective of the present inventionis; to provide; a durable card case that may be replenished with anothercard; holder whenever the final card of the previous holder has. beenremoved therefrom. That is'to. say, the casing and its clamp assembly 22are designed to. serve repetitiously for any number of card packs or;holders. 24; that maybe successively inserted thereinto. A preferredcard holder would be assembled in themanner to. follow.

Assuming that a blockofytissue sheets 64 were at hand, and that the lefthand edgesof the sheets were bound together by an adhesive-strip: inthe: usualmanner,

a segment of the block would ,be; removed therefrom, said segmentincluding one sheet of tissuepaper foreach card to be contained in thecontemplated holder.

Ordinarily, a holder 24,;would contain ten of the cards 82, whereforesegments comprising; ten sheets of tissue would be taken from theblockHowever in the interest of illustrative clarity with respect to, thedrawings, it will be assumed that a holder containingsix cards 82 is tobe constructed. Consequently; a segment-comprising six sheets 64.wouldbe separated from the block, the left hand edges being integrated,bythe; adhesive strip 84, as indicated in Figures 5 and 11; With; thesix sheet segment of tissue papers superimposed on and aligned with theleft hand end of the stiffener sheet 76,;a line of stitching 86 would beapplied,the stitchingextending through all of the tissue sheets 64: andthe stiffener sheet 76, as bestseen in FigurevS; V

Thereupon, a card 82 would;- be. deposited between the sheet 76 and thelowermosntissue, sheet 64, .and duplicate cards would be deposited.between each adjacent pair of tissue sheets thereabove, the-uppermostcard 82 lying between the topmost and lthenextther'ebelow sheets 64asFigure 5- demonstrates. This: view also demonstrates that in the thusassembled status of the holder, the right hand marginal edge. 78 of the4 stiffener sheet preferably lies short of the corresponding edges ofthe cards 82.

It is also noted with attention directed to Figure 3, that the tissuesheets 64 are wider than the cards 82, so that said sheets overlap thecards transversely.

The final step in producing a holder 24 would consist in curving all ofthe right hand flap segments 70 of the tissue sheets tautly about theadjacent edges of the cards 82 to bring said flap segments flatlyagainst the undersurface of the stiffener sheet 76, and applying to themand said sheet the retaining sticker 80. The resultant disposition ofthe flap segments 70 relatively to the sheet 76 and to one another isexhibited in Figure 11. This final operation also places the tissuesheets under tension for a purpose to appear.

Use

Although the advantages inherent in the invention and its use arebelieved manifest, a brief explanation will be given. Thus, it will beassumed for example, that a business executive orders two hundredengraved cards, a small quantity of which he desires to carry on hisperson. In accordance with the concepts of the present invention, hewould be furnished one casing 20, and twenty holders 24 each containingten cards 82, whereon his name, affiliation and so on had been printedor engraved.

With the casing in an open position such as that presented in Figure 3,the clamping member 50 would first be flipped by means of fingerpiece 56to the substantially vertical status thereof illustrated in Figures 4and 8. Thereupon, with for example the left hand sustaining the member50 in thesuggested status, a holder 24 would be inserted into the clampassembly 22 with the right hand, the upstandingfiange 42 serving tolimit leftward movement of the holder.

Thereupon, the clamping member 50' would be depressed leftwardlydownwardly, in consequence whereof the edge 60 of the narrow leg 54would compress the portions of the tissue papers 64 adjacent thestitching 86 together with the corresponding portion of the sheet 76,thus obviating fortuitous displacement of the holder 24 in alongitudinal direction.

Concurrently, in consequence of said leftward and downward depression ofthe clamping member 50, the portions of the tissue sheets 64 and thestiffener sheet 76 that overlie the knob formations 48'would-first bedeformed, and then compressed between the upper surfaces of said knobsand the indentations 62, as an inspection of Figure 6 should tend toclarify. It should also be apparent, that this arrangement obviatesfortuitous displace ment of the holder 24 in a transverse direction.

Although as stated, the holders 24 are first positioned with the strip84 abutting against the flange 44, (at whichtime the stitching 86 wouldbe in vertical alignment with the knob formations 48 and the pintles58), it is to be noted that in consefuence of the incrementally appliedresultant compression of the tissue sheets incident to the depression ofthe clamping member 50, the holder 24 would automatically move slightlyrightwardly to the position therof shown in Figures 3 and 5.

Assuming that the card holder 24 had been attached as described, and asillustrated in Figures 3 and 5, the casing 20 would be folded into andreleasably maintained in the Figures 1 and 5 portrayal thereof forcarriage in wearing apparel until the opportunity of proffering a card82 presented itself.

At such time, the procedure would be simple. It would only be necessaryto open the casing 20 and apply rightward thumb pressure to theconnecting segment 72 of the uppermost tissue sheet 64. As a result,inasmuch as the main body portion 66 and said connecting segment aretaut, the line of perforations 68 would produce the separation of thesegment 72 from the main body 66 of the sheet 64, thus releasing theuppermost card 82 for ready presentation. If desirable in the interestof neatness for the next card presentation occasion, the now looselydisposed segment 72 would be torn from the holder, the line ofperforations 74 facilitating this action.

The main body portion 66 of the severed sheet could be left in theholder for memoranda purposes if desired or it could be torn from theholder along the stitch line 86 and discarded.

When the last card 82 in the holder had been dispensed, the clampingmember 52 would be swung to the Figure 8 position thereof, the emptyholder would be removed and discarded, and a fresh card holder 24 wouldbe clamped into place in the manner described.

What I claim is:

1. A manually operable clamp assembly for detachably securing one endportion of a card holder to a flexible casing, said assembly comprising:a transversely disposed substantially rectangular base plate rigidlyattached to the casing; an upstanding flange on one end of the baseplate; a pair of transversely spaced vertically disposed wing segmentson the base plate, said upstanding flange merging at its ends into saidwing segments; a circular aperture in each of the wing segments; a pairof transversely spaced hollow knobs formed in the base plate; asubstantially L-shaped clamping member having a relatively wide legsection merging into a narrower leg section; a pintle projectinglaterally from each end of the clamping member at the mergence of theleg sections thereof, said pintles extending into the circular aperturesaforesaid of the base plate wing segments to pivotally support saidmember between them; a finger piece projecting from the terminal edge ofthe wide leg section to facilitate moving the clamping member into andout of clamping position; and a pair of transversely spaced arcuateindentations formed in the terminal edge of the narrow leg section, thespacing of said indentations corresponding with that of the knobs in thebase plate, and the radii of said indentations being slightly largerthan the radii of said knobs.

2. A manually operable clamp assembly for detachably securing one endportion of a card holder to a casing, said clamp assembly comprising: abase plate of substantially rectangular configuration rigidly secured tothe casing by means of a pair of transversely spaced rivets; a verticalflange extending upwardly from one end of the plate; a pair oftransversely spaced wing segments each extending upwardly from one sideof the plate, said vertical flange merging at each end into one of saidWing segments; a circular aperture in each wing segment; a pair oftransversely spaced knob formations in the base plate; a clamping memberof substantially L- shaped configuration including a wide leg sectionmerging into a narrower leg section; a pair of pintles each projectinglaterally from the clamping member at the mergence of the leg sectionsthereof and extending into one of the circular apertures of said wingsegments whereby to pivotally support said member between them; and apair of transversely spaced arcuate indentations in the terminal edge ofthe narrow leg section, said indentations being spaced correspondinglywith the knob formations aforesaid and adapted to overlie saidformations when the clamping member is swung to clamping position, theradii of the indentations being slightly larger than the radii of theknob formations.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS356,810 Weeks Feb. 1, 1887 381,702 King Apr. 24, 1888 807,648 WigginsDec. 19, 1905 1,089,557 Henderson Mar. 10, 1914 1,736,558 Van Buren Nov.19, 1929 1,835,909 Shoemaker Dec. 8, 1931 1,836,161 Gates Dec. 15, 19312,123,903 Lane et a1. July 19, 1938 2,576,571 Chauvin Nov. 27, 1951

